Test 1

Section 2
Good morning everyone. My name’s Jay Parkinds and I’m the restaurant manager.
And I understand that none of you’ve (1).................................................................Well,
you might be feeling a bit nervous now, but most of our kitchen assistants say they
enjoy the work. OK. they might get shouted at sometimes, but it’s nothing personal,
and they’re pleased that they have so many different things to do, which means they
never get bored. And I’ll tell you straightaway that if you do well, we might think
about (2)
…………………………………..…………………
Right, well, you’ve all shown up on time, which is an excellent start. Now I’m glad to
see none of you have unsuitable footwear, so that’s good - you need to be careful as
the floors can get very wet and slippery. Those of you with long hair (3)
… ........................... but some of you’ll need to remove your rings and bracelets - just
put them somewhere safe for today, and remember to leave them at home tomorrow,
(4) …………………….
Now it’s going to be a busy day for you all today - we don’t have get tables free for
this evening, and only a few for lunch. Fortunately, we’ve got our Head Chef back -
he was away on holiday all last week which meant the other chefs had extra work.
Now, I’ll tell you a bit more about the job in a minute but first, some general
regulations. For all of you, whatever your age, there’s some equipment you mustn’t
use until you’ve been properly trained, like the (5) …………………….
………………………. Then I think there are two of you here who are under 18 -
that’s Emma and Jake, isn’t it? Right, so for you two, (6)
………………………………………….. And of course none of you are allowed to
use the electric mixer until you’ve been shown how it works.
Now you may have heard that this can be a stressful job, and I have to say that can be
true. You’ll be (7) …………………………………………., though you’ll have the
chance to do overtime after that as well if you want to. But however long the hours
are, you’ll get a break in the middle. What you will find is that you’re (8)
……………………………………….…. so if you’re not fit now you soon will be!
You’ll find you don’t have much chance to take it easy - when someone tells you to do
something you need to do it straightaway - but at least we do have a very (9)
………………………………………….
Now let me tell you about some of the people you need to know. So as I said. I’m Joy
Parkins and I decide who does what during the day and how long they work for. I’ll be
trying to get you to work with as many different people in the kitchen as possible, so
that you learn while you’re on the job. One person whose name you must remember is
David Field. If you injure yourself at all. even if it’s really minor, you must report to
him and he’ll make sure the
(10) …………………………………..…….…………….. He’s trained to give basic
treatment to staff himself, or (11) ……………………………………………………..
Then there’s Dexter Wills - he’s the person you need to see if you smash a plate or
something like that. Don’t just leave it and hope no one will notice - it’s really
important to get things noted and replaced or there could be problems later. And
finally. there’s Mike Smith. He’s the member of staff who takes care of all the stores
of perishables, so if you notice we’re getting low in flour or sugar or something,
make sure you (12)
………………………………………………………………
. OK, now the next thing ...
Section 3

TRUDIE: OK, Stewart. We need to start planning our paper on public

libraries. (1).................................................................?
STEWART: Well, there’s so much we could look into. How libraries have changed
over the centuries, for instance, or how different countries organise them. What do you
think, Trudie?
TRUDIE: Maybe we should concentrate on this country and try and (2)
… .................... , like the fact that far more people can read than a century ago, and
that the local population may speak lots of different languages.
STEWART: We could include something about changes in the source of funding, too.
TRUDIE: Yes, but remember we’re only supposed to write a short paper, so it’s
probably best if we don’t go into funding in any detail.
STEWART: Right. Well, shall we just brainstorm a few ideas, to get started?
TRUDIE: OK. We (3) ……………………………………………, particularly the
internet. Now that lots of books have been digitalised, people can access them from
their own computers at home.
STEWART: And if everyone did that, libraries would be obsolete.
TRUDIE: Yes.
STEWART: But the digitalised books (4)
………………………………………………, aren’t they? And copyright in this
country lasts for 70 years after the author dies. So you won’t find the latest best-seller
or up-to-date information.
TRUDIE: That’s an important point. Anyway, I find it hard to concentrate when I’m
reading a long text on a screen. I’d much rather read a physical book. And it takes
longer to read on a screen.
STEWART: Oh, I prefer it I suppose it’s just a personal preference.
TRUDIE: Mm. I expect that libraries will go on evolving in the next few years. Some
have
(5).............................................................., like local clubs meeting there. I think that’ll
become even more common.
STEWART: I’d like to think so, and that they’ll still be serving their traditional
function, but I’m not so sure. (6)
……………………………………………………What I’m afraid will happen is that
books and magazines will all disappear, and there’ll just be rows and rows of computers.
They won’t look anything like the libraries we’re used to.
TRUDIE: Well, we’ll see.
TRUDIE: I’ve just had an idea. Why don’t we (7).......................................................as
background to our paper?
STEWART: Yes, that’d be interesting, and raise all sorts of issues. Let’s make a list of
possible things we could ask about, (8) ……………………………………………….
For instance, um, we could interview some of the staff, and find out whether the
library has its own budget. or if that’s controlled by the local council.
TRUDIE: And what their policies are. I know they don’t allow food, but I’d love to
find out what types of noise they ban - there always seems to be a lot of talking, but
never music. I don’t know if that’s a policy or it just happens.
STEWART: Ah. I’ve often wondered. Then there are things like how the library is
affected by employment laws. (9)..................................................................................,
facilities for staff, and so on.
TRUDIE: Right. Then there are other issues relating to the design of the building and
how customers use it. Like (10)
.........................................................................................................................................
?
They’d need floor coverings that aren’t slippery, and emergency exits, for instance.
Oh, and another thing - there’s the question of the kind of insurance the library needs
to have, in case anyone gets injured.
STEWART: Yes, that’s something else to find out. You know something I’ve often
wondered?
TRUDIE: What’s that?
STEWART: Well, you know they’ve got an archive of local newspapers going back
years? Well, next to it they’ve got the (11).....................................................................I
wonder why it’s there. Do you know what his connection was with this area?
TRUDIE: No idea. Let’s add it to our list of things to find out. Oh, I’ve just thought -
you know people might ask in the library about local organisations. like sports clubs?
Well. I wonder if they keep a database, or whether they just look online.
STEWART: Right. I quite (12) ………………………………………………a library
that’s open to the public and one that’s part of a museum, for example - they must be
very different.
TRUDIE: Mmm. Then something else I’d like to know is ...
Section 4
(1)......................................................................................Today I’m going to talk about
four of them: collaboration, hard work, creativity and excellence. Most people would
say they’re all ‘good things’. I’m going to suggest that’s an over-simple view.
The trouble with these values is that they’re theoretical concepts, removed from the
reality of day-to-day business. (2) ……………………………………………………
what may happen as a result. they can actually cause damage, which is not at all the
intention.
Business leaders generally try to do the right thing. But all too often the right thing
backfires, if those leaders (3)..................................................................................that
arise. The values can easily get in the way of what’s actually intended.
OK. So the first value I’m going to discuss is collaboration. Er, let me give you an
example. On a management training course I once attended, we were put into groups
and
(4) ……………………………………………………, using building blocks that we
were given. The rule was that everyone in the team had to move at least one building
block during the construction. This was intended to encourage teamwork.
But it was really a job best done by one person. The other teams tried to (5)
……………………………………………………, with everyone getting in each
other’s way. Our team leader solved the challenge brilliantly. She simply asked
everyone in the team to move a piece a few centimetres, to comply with the rule, and
then let the person in the team with an aptitude for puzzles like this build it alone. We
finished before any other team. My point is that the task wasn’t really suited to
teamworking, so why make it one?
Teamwork can also (6).................................................................................In the case of
a smartphone that a certain company launched, one director wanted to target the
business market, and another demanded it was aimed at consumers. The company
wanted both directors to be involved, so gave the product a consumer-friendly name,
but marketed it to companies. (7) ……………………………
It would have been better to let one director or the other have his way, not both.
Now industriousness, or hard work. It’s easy to mock people who say they work hard:
after all, a hamster running around in a wheel is working hard - and getting nowhere.
Of course (8) ……………………………………………………. Otherwise it wastes
the resources that companies value most - time and energy. And that’s bad for the
organisation.
There’s a management model that groups people according to four criteria: clever,
hard- working, stupid and lazy. Here ‘lazy’ means having a (9)
………………………………
It doesn’t mean trying to avoid work altogether. Most people display two of these
characteristics, and the most valuable people are those who are both clever and lazy:
they possess intellectual clarity, and they don’t rush into making decisions. They (10)
… ........................................................................ spent by the stupid and hard-working
group. Instead of throwing more man-hours at a problem, the clever and lazy group
looks for a more effective solution.
Next we come to creativity. This often works well – (11)...............................................,
for example, might lead to increased sales. But it isn’t always a good thing.
Some advertising campaigns are remembered for their creativity, without having any
effect on sales. This happened a few years ago with the launch of a chocolate bar:
subsequent research showed that plenty of consumers remembered the adverts, but had
no idea what was being advertised. The trouble is that the (12).......................................,
and wrongly assumes the audience for the campaign will share that feeling.
(13) ……………………………………………………may seem more creative than a
company that only has a few, but it may be too creative, and make smaller profits.
Creativity needs to be targeted to solve a problem that the company has identified. Just
coming up with more and more novel products isn’t necessarily a good thing.
And finally, excellence. We all know companies that claim they ‘strive for
excellence’, but it takes a long time to achieve excellence. In business, (14) ……..
…………………
than having the best product. A major study of company performance compared
pioneers - that is, companies bringing out the first version of a particular product -
with followers, the companies that copied and improved on that product. The study
found
that (15) …………………………………………, while the followers achieved less
than half that, only 13 percent - even though their product might have been better.
Insisting on excellence in everything we do is time-consuming, wastes energy and (16)
………………………………………. Sometimes, second-rate work is more
worthwhile than excellence. ‘Make sure it’s excellent’ sounds like a good approach to
business, but the ‘just-get-started’ approach is likely to be more successful.